BEDFORD, Ky. (October 2009)  In his new book,
Mules and Wildcat Heads, author Dean Bowling cautions that
some life lessons are harder than others. At the insistence
of his daughter, Bowling has penned a book about his life in eastern
Kentucky in the 1950s and 1960s.

His daughter, Casey, had heard me tell of growing
up in eastern Kentucky and compelled me to get it on paper, said
Bowling. When I began to write, it kind of fell into book form.
The 152-page book is a compilation of events in his life that he actually
lived through or events that were passed on to him from those around
him who exerted great influence in his life.
I was born in the head of a holler on Wells Creek about six miles
out of Sandy Hook, Ky in Elliott County, said Bowling, 62. I
attended a one-room school there on Wells Creek and went to Sandy Hook
High. Thus was the education of this self-pronounced hill
boy.
Bowling uses a lot of humor to tell his story, applying a personal look
at his rural upbringing. I believe this book will invoke memories
and nostalgia of those earlier years for the reader, whether you are
from the city or a true Appalachian child, he said.
Bowling writes with clarity and vivid detail about his first pet squirrel,
Lolly. He had set out one morning to hunt squirrel and spied an old
mother squirrel that ran up an oak tree to hide in a nest of grape vines
and leaves.
He writes, Much to my surprise, instead of seeing momma squirrel
burst from the clump of leaves, out came a baby squirrel tumbling to
the ground. I picked it up to discover a tiny hairless mousey looking
thing. I became so excited that I forgot about the original mission.
The baby squirrel became known as Lolly and remained the family pet
for many years.
Bowling eventually left his idyllic life on Wells Creek to attend Morehead
State College, receiving a bachelors degree in math and minoring
in physics and Russian. He married his wife, Kate, while in his last
year of college and realized how badly he needed a steady, full-time
job.
Graduating from Morehead State College in summer 1969, Bowling was hoping
to land a teaching job in the Lexington, Ky., area. He received several
calls from then-superintendent of the Trimble County School System,
Joe Ross, who insisted he come to Trimble County for a job interview.
Having never heard of Trimble County, my curiosity got the better
of me, Bowling said. I decided to check it out just for
fun.
Once he arrived in Trimble County, he found it to be a lot like
where I grew up and decided to try it for a year. He eventually
found that I liked the place and it would be a great place to
raise a family. Bowling began the first of his 21 years of teaching
for the Trimble County School System that fall.
Bowling taught math, physics and Russian for two of the 21 years. He
rose to the position of Trimble County High School principal for a period
of six years and worked in the central office for more than five years.
He retired from his passion, teaching, in September 2001.
Mules and Wildcat Heads should appeal to the Baby
Boomers who grew up in the 50s and 60s but also to the younger
generation who may have an interest in learning about that period of
time in the Appalachians, he said.
The truthfulness of the book is what appealed to Alice Welty. Welty,
who is older than Bowling, said she grew up during the Depression and
there were a lot of similarities in the book to the time
in which she grew up.
Welty has known Bowling since he moved to Trimble County. They attend
church together and her children were familiar with him as a teacher.
Bowling taught her son, Barry, Russian and advanced physics and was
a strict, but well-liked teacher.
She purchased her copy of Mules and Wildcat Heads directly
from Bowling. She began reading it on a Sunday afternoon and was immediately
enthralled with it.
He wrote about things familiar to Welty, such as killing hogs and making
blood pudding, Welty said. You preserved everything you could
in those days.